Poison Prevention and Your Pet
March is National Poison Prevention Week. What originally began as a way to spread awareness about poisoning in people, evolved into a great way to spread awareness about poisoning prevents for your pets too!
Is it Common for a Pet to be Poisoned?
Poisoning is a very common reason that pets make a visit to their local vet. The National Animal Poison Control Center, handled 180,000 cases of animal poisoning in 2013. The good news is, most of these cases can be completely preventable with a bit of knowledge and education. So teach yourself today and don’t let your animal become a statistic.
How Can I Tell If My Pet has been Poisoned?
Unfortunately, most of the time a pet that has been poisoned will not show many physical signs and can vary with the type of toxin consumed. Some poisons are caused by pets accidentally eating mice, who have also eaten other poisons or toxins that pets encounter accidentally around the home or yard, like medications, pesticides or antifreeze. If your pet isn’t acting right and you think a poisoning is possible, take it to the vet or ER immediately!
Seasonal Poison Risks
Petsafe.net has listed some informative seasonal poison risks. Here are some common warm-weather risks to your pet.
- Blue-green algae in stagnant ponds
- Compost piles
- Swimming pool and hot tub chemicals
- Cocoa mulch
- Venomous animals – toads, snakes, scorpions
And here are their cold-weather counterparts.
- Antifreeze (see above)
- Ice melter
- Liquid potpourri
How YOU Can Prevent Pet Poisoning
Everything can be prevented and prevention is key. Keep your medications out of reach in child-safe containers. Make sure all cleaning products and chemicals are in sealed containers and out of reach of pets. Secure your lawn chemicals and antifreeze. Dogs are naturally curious about the world and will get into EVERYTHING. They don’t know the difference between toxins and treats and as their guardians and protectors, it is up to us to keep them safe and make sure all chemicals and medications are secure.
Source: PetSafe
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